"Come down from the mountain,"
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South
Africa called out to the fighters
through the live TV broadcast, "come back home to help
rebuild your country, Colombia." http://www.synergos.org
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Colombia is working to overcome nearly 50 years of
conflict that escalated in the 1990s as a result of
the drug-trafficking trade. Based on a negotiated peace
process the Colombian Government must now reintegrate
former Paramilitary as well as members of the National
Liberation Army (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces
(FARC) into society and incorporate conflict mitigation
mechanisms into its institutions to support it. With
assistance from the USAID Office of Conflict Management
and Mitigation (DCHA/CMM), USAID/Colombia incorporated
Restorative Justice Principles, within both its Justice
and Peace Initiatives Programs.
The purpose of Restorative Justice is to reduce conflict
and promote reconciliation by encouraging parties to
resolve their conflict through: (1) acceptance of responsibility
and the offer of reparations for damages caused by the
perpetrator, (2) forgiveness by the aggrieved party,
and (3) reconciliation between the conflicting parties.
In the words of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, restorative justice is not about retribution
or punishment, but rather it is “the healing of
breaches, the redressing of imbalances and the restoration
of broken relationships".
To facilitate this process, DCHA/CMM sponsored the
first International Symposium on Restorative Justice
and Peace in Cali in February of 2005, to develop consensus
among Colombian government leaders and civil society
members on issues fundamental for the development of
the peace process. Archbishop Tutu was the keynote speaker.
He spoke about the principles of restorative justice
process and challenged the Colombians to face the sources
of their own conflict. This initial exchange laid the
foundation for a possible South African participation
as facilitators in the peace process. Best practices
from Peru were also shared.
Lessons learned and consensus built as a result of
the Symposium allowed restorative justice principles
to be better understood within the Colombian society.
These principles were incorporated in the new Justice
and Peace Law, which provides the critical legal framework
for new peace agreements involving the right of reparations
to victims. Over 30 former FARC members will be some
of the first to benefit from the law.
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